how to dispel or mask the spell 'track ship'


Advice


in the campaign i am currently in, my companions and i have captured 2 ships from some very powerful people. we have recently just discovered that they are using the spell track ship to discover our whereabouts. what is the best way to dispel track ship or cloak its effectiveness?


Nondetection can be cast on one creature or object; a ship is one object AFAIK, so it should work. Duration is 1 hour/level so you'll have to renew it periodically, and the bad guys do get a caster level check to get through it, so it's not perfect.


Fuzzy-Wuzzy wrote:

Nondetection can be cast on one creature or object; a ship is one object AFAIK, so it should work. Duration is 1 hour/level so you'll have to renew it periodically, and the bad guys do get a caster level check to get through it, so it's not perfect.

no one in my party is a wizard/sorcerer.

also we need something a bit more permanent.


Maybe trade ships with a captain who wants to go on account? Then the both of you are still tracked of course... just by people neither cares about.


Coat it in lead.

Clearly, you need a floating block of lead. But in all seriousness, if you have 0 access to magic, Lead blocks scrying.


Absent access to arcane magic, your best option is just to sink them. I kid, I kid.

One option *might* be Obscure Object. It's on the Bard (1) and Cleric (3) lists (I assume you have *some* magic access!), and works for 8 hours per casting. However, the 100 lbs/caster level restriction probably renders it unsuitable for use on a vessel of any real size (I'm guessing you didn't capture rowboats).

Another option might be to craft/modify something along the lines of an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location that works for a ship (perhaps a magic pirate flag or something). It operates like a permanent Nondetection spell. Darn pricey though.


At the risk of double-posting, I'm guessing that the above-noted magical options might be either impractical or unsuitable.

If that's the case, why not consider subterfuge. For example, instead of trying to block the scrying, why not use it to set a trap for your enemies, or to mislead them as to your intentions.

Perhaps you could have a skeleton crew (even literally, if you have access to the spell) pilot the ships towards a certain location or objective, while the main party proceeds separately towards your real destination/objective.

Or use a similar tactic to draw in your enemies' forces and maybe even wait for them to board the ships, then blow up the ships (which are now containing hundreds of kegs of oil or something). (This is probably most suitable if you are using a literal skeleton crew per the spell, or maybe using illusion magic to make it seem like the ships are crewed -- instead of blowing up actual crewmembers.)

Once you've destroyed the boarders, you and your group then emerge from hiding (perhaps underwater?) and board and seize the vessels sent by your enemies, perhaps even taking out their "scryer" in the process.

The Exchange

Pay someone to dispel it
Suck it up for a few hours.
Leave the map area
Disguise the ship to confuse anyone who comes after you.
Or be around a bunch of ships.
Sail someplace they cannot follow


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
wethusky wrote:

no one in my party is a wizard/sorcerer.

also we need something a bit more permanent.

Without a significant spellcaster, you can't block "Track Ship".

So the best thing you can do is *use* the knowledge that your ship is being tracked in creative ways. Do your enemies know that you know they have been tracking you with this spell? No? Turn that against them.

You see this tactic at work in TV shows or detective novels where the hero discovers a tracking device, but decides to leave it in place so that his enemies won't know their trick has been discovered.

1) Bait and switch: you take alternative means of transport while the tracked ship is taken somewhere else (as suggested above).

2) Reverse ambush: knowing you're being tracked, you set up to ambush the ambushers.

3) Ready to run: you prepare an escape plan for the next time you are ambushed on your ship.

Even if you gain access to the right magic, blocking the tracking isn't necessarily the best answer. Better would be finding a way to track the tracking signal back to its origin, to take out the guys who are tracking you while they think you are far away, on the ship being tracked.

I'm sure with a bit of creativity you can come up with even more devious plans.

Sovereign Court

There's the Theseus Defense:

Change the figurehead, name, and rechristen the ship complete with busting a bottle of elven wine against the hull.

It'll no longer be the same ship that the focus came from that the spell is using.


wethusky wrote:
in the campaign i am currently in, my companions and i have captured 2 ships from some very powerful people. we have recently just discovered that they are using the spell track ship to discover our whereabouts. what is the best way to dispel track ship or cloak its effectiveness?

The spell can't be dispelled from your end anyway.

- Sell one ship and acquire a wizard to protect the other.
- Abandon the ships.
- Sail somewhere dangerous enough that the cost of meaningful pursuit outweighs the cost of the ships.
- Sail into uncharted waters.
- Sink the ships with a means of raising them.
- Sell the ships for scrap or to anybody willing to buy quickly.
- Steal anything valuable from the ships and set them adrift.


If you're in port, sell both ships, buy one or two new ones, sail away in those.


Wow! I'm amazed at the amount of help offered! Thank you everyone!
Here's a bit more info on the situation- There are 3 casters in my group:myself, a 10th lvl warpriest, a 10th lvl bard and a 10th lvl water druid. The bard has a companion(through the leadership feat) that we use to craft items, scrolls, etc. We just recently captured a really great frigate and discovered that the previous ship we stole from the same people was most definitely being tracked(this is where our session ended). We are free captains of a major pirate lord and are heading back to report to him and since we just found out about the tracking spell(which we should have thought about before) see if he has the resources or a way to help with it.
I wanted to do research/get advice on our predicament before our next session so that we would be prepared to deal with it.
Again, thank you everyone!


Track Ship wrote:
In order to cast this spell, you must have a piece of the ship you wish to track.

If you can find out what piece they are using, you can remove/replace the part of the ship it came from. Or better yet, put the part on another ship...

Sovereign Court

Dr Styx wrote:
Track Ship wrote:
In order to cast this spell, you must have a piece of the ship you wish to track.
If you can find out what piece they are using, you can remove/replace the part of the ship it came from. Or better yet, put the part on another ship...

A variant on the "Theseus Defense" I mentioned upthread :)


I thought about if it was possible to just magically repair the area of the ship that had the piece removed and even if it was it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.


There are a few magic items that block divination, none spring to mind but I know there are quite a few that exist. I would go that route myself especially if you have somebody with craft wondrous.

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